With great sadness the members, committee and directors of the A40 Farina Club Ltd learned this morning of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh at the age of 99 years, just two months short of his centenary. We join with so many others in expressing our deep condolences to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and to the other members of the Royal Family at this sad time.
- 10th June 1921 - 9th April 2021
It is no exaggeration to state that without Prince Philip's intervention during his official visit to Longbridge in 1955 the Austin A40 Farina would never have appeared. After being shown the proposed designs for future Austin models His Highness said to the boss of BMC, “Sir Leonard, I think you ought to have another look at things because I’m not sure these are up to the foreign competition.”
- Image © British Motor Industry Heritage Trust
The very next day Lord sent for the Italian designer Battista Farina, who left bearing an £84,000 contract for designing a new car – the result was a brilliant re-packaging of the A35’s running gear with a ground-breaking body style years ahead of anything Austin had produced up until then.
Three years later, on 18th September 1958, the car was officially launched. The new shape produced a stir whenever and by whomsoever it was seen; such neat and crisp lines were much in contrast to what had gone before, whilst the inspired incorporation of a folding rear seat to produce a generous load area within such a compact body was also admired. (The Countryman model would appear in 1959 as a response to criticism levelled at the poor loading access caused by the saloon’s fixed rear window.)
- To left of image, Sir Leonard Lord and Battista Farina at the announcement day at Longbridge.
Just two weeks later came the officla launch at the 45th Salon d'Automobile in Paris
Nowadays this ubiquitous hatchback shape is common across most manufacturers but many motorists today are often unaware that their family three- or five-door saloon is the direct descendant of that increasingly rare little A40 they occasionally spot out on the roads.
In 2018 our Club was honoured to receive two letters from Prince Philip; one to mark the A40 Farina's 60th anniversary, another one congratulating us on our Club's impending 40th birthday in the following year. We are very proud to have been thus acknowledged.
- © A40 Farina Club Ltd
- © A40 Farina Club Ltd
